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Do single dads get a fair deal or do they face particular issues which are different to women bringing up children on their own?These are some of the questions that the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee will be trying to answer over the next few months.On Saturday, the committee is launching an inquiry on the issues facing single fathers and it wants to hear from both men themselves and organisations providing support to them.

Father-headed households

400,000 families were headed by lone fathers in 2012, representing 13.5% of all single-parent households in the UK according to the Office for National Statistics(ONS). With an average family size of 2.32, that figure represents 927,000 people in the UK.Families headed by lone-women tend to be slightly larger meaning that 6.7 million people were part of a household headed by a mother in 2012. The number of families headed by one parent has risen considerably since 1999 from 2.5 million to almost 3 million last year.

In London alone there are 16,473 male lone parent households. In addition there are 180,366 fathers who are not living with their children according to statistics provided by the Office for National Statistics (last updated April 2006).

There were nearly 2.0 million lone parents with dependent children in the UK in 2012, a figure which has grown significantly from 1.6 million in 1996. Lone parents with dependent children represented 26 per cent of all families with dependent children in 2012, an increase of four percentage points since 1996.

In 2012, women accounted for 91 per cent of lone parents with dependent children and men the remaining 9 per cent. These percentages have changed little since 1996. Women are more likely to take the main caring responsibilities for any children when relationships break down, and therefore become lone parents.

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“Through ‘Dads House’ you are bringing together dads to share their experiences and receive practical and emotional support. Drawing on your own experience, you are connecting single fathers across the country and having a profound impact on their lives and the lives of their families.” https://www.pointsoflight.gov.uk/dads-house/